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Neo Duckberg posted:I won't name names, but I work directly for a man who has a majority share in two construction companies that build 500+ homes per year in my state, additionally he himself owns 20+ rental properties. He's also cheap as gently caress. I'm guilty building here. Not Wisconsin, per chance?
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Jun 30, 2014 23:38
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GreenNight posted:Not Wisconsin, per chance? Nope, lower. And may I just put out there that he made $1.4 million last year but refuses to get a crane to lift the roof trusses.
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Jun 30, 2014 23:44
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I live on the east coast of central Florida and we get hurricanes and severe thunderstorms plenty, but the building I'm in now hasn't even flooded in the 30+ years it's been here as far as the apartment manager and I know. I've tried State Farm (just said "we can't cover you" with no reason), Allstate (same as State Farm except in a way more roundabout and cryptic way since their website was apparently broken), USAA ("You live in a severe thunderstorm prone area and we can't cover you because of that") and one other one I can't remember the name of (it was like Family Something Insurance I think) who just said "we don't service your area." Geico covers my area but I've heard awful things about Geico weaseling out of claims and just generally being crappy. Admittedly this is a pretty small sample to be saying things like "all" the companies refuse but I was looking at companies that were rated highest in terms of coverage and customer satisfaction and I'm kinda annoyed. I mean you'd think that I'd just pay an extra "you're probably gonna die" fee to balance the fact that I live in Florida but apparently not. If anyone has a company they like that I didn't try let me know, otherwise I guess I'll just go with Geico. Also if my insurance chat is annoying I can take it elsewhere like A/T or something, let me know.
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Jun 30, 2014 23:47
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NancyPants posted:Does your policy cover replacement cost and actually pay you on loss, or reimburse you after you replace? I'm trying to find coverage that does both plus hotel, and I'm having a hard time. I'm not sure--I believe they're pay on replacement, IE pay deductible and send receipts. I didn't know there was a difference. In the event my apartment burns to foundation I have enough flux between credit and family I wouldn't have an issue getting back on my feet. I'll also note its under the greater plan of my parents for their house, cars (including mine), cabin, umbrella policy, etc. My gf who lives with me has her own through her parents as its still technically legal somehow and cheaper this way despite me being 29 and her at 28 (in professional school). My family has had same agent for at least 20 years which probably helps. Edit: I'll also add that the place I'm in now at face value I'd argue is more fire prone than the more densely occupied building I was in before but my renters was another $3/month at the other place. I seriously can't believe they won't give you simple coverage of even up to 10k. c0ldfuse fucked around with this message at 00:08 on Jul 1, 2014 |
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Jul 1, 2014 00:03
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atomicthumbs posted:This isn't really "crappy construction", but I'm not sure where else to post it. Here's some rather impressive knob-and-tube for y'all: i love old stuff like this. i wish i could find the pictures i took, but there's a really old 1900s apartment/condo building that i've worked in a few times that still has it's original service. the meters aren't even enclosed. the jaws/lugs are all just mounted on this huge piece of wood and the knob and tube feeders just poke out of the wall into them and the load side floats over to this giant enclosure full of fuses and knife switches like that. someone at one point modified something in the enclosure and now you can't close the door on the drat thing without it hitting one of the fuses and arcing out so they just keep it open and exposed, lol. we put in a bid to redo the whole thing with the condo association but they ended up going with a different one. which is now on hold because they tried to tell the inspector the feeders going to each unit are in conduit (they aren't) and didn't need to be replaced. he called us knowing that we'd worked on a few of the panels to ask and we straight up told him they are full of poo poo. the condo association told them to gently caress right off after trying to weasel their way out of doing it properly..i don't think they've hired another contractor yet. it would be a huuuuge undertaking for the small company i work for but it'd be a fun as hell job to do.
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Jul 1, 2014 00:24
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PainterofCrap posted:The entire rear wall fell over in a piece, leaving the very large, 3-story frame house hanging in the air at the rear wall, popping & creaking away. The osha.jpg thread just raised the stakes.  Anther posted:At least the lightswitch knows: I softly giggled myself to tears while at work on this one. Good job 
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Jul 1, 2014 00:33
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canyoneer posted:The osha.jpg thread just raised the stakes. China?
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Jul 1, 2014 00:36
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And now for your viewing entertainment: the coastline of Sao Paulo, Brazil! There are a couple more pictures there too.
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Jul 1, 2014 00:44
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Parallel Paraplegic posted:I live on the east coast of central Florida and we get hurricanes and severe thunderstorms plenty, but the building I'm in now hasn't even flooded in the 30+ years it's been here as far as the apartment manager and I know. Try Travelers, but they own both USAA and Geico, so who knows what kinda results you'll have.
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Jul 1, 2014 00:48
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PLANES CURE TOWERS posted:Try Travelers, but they own both USAA and Geico, so who knows what kinda results you'll have. I enter my zip code and it just says "We're Sorry but we can't give you a quote", though the page does say I can call their agent and maybe get a quote that way unlike all the other ones. Progress I guess!
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Jul 1, 2014 00:59
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Parallel Paraplegic posted:I enter my zip code and it just says "We're Sorry but we can't give you a quote", though the page does say I can call their agent and maybe get a quote that way unlike all the other ones. Progress I guess! Try an independent agent in your area, one that represents more than one company.
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Jul 1, 2014 01:12
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Slanderer posted:China? I saw a photo once of two Chinese apartment high-rises that were clearly copies of each other. One of them was sideways, and impressively largely intact all things considered. The other was still upright...for the moment.
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Jul 1, 2014 01:12
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Neo Duckberg posted:Nope, lower. And may I just put out there that he made $1.4 million last year but refuses to get a crane to lift the roof trusses. So he makes about $2800 per house, assuming exactly 500 houses per year; less if he makes more houses than that? Honestly it sounds like there's not a lot of margin there for cost increases. How much does a crane cost?
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Jul 1, 2014 02:41
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After seeing how construction is done in rural china, I'm surprised so many buildings are still standing.
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Jul 1, 2014 03:31
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GreenNight posted:What goddamn home builder are you using?! When people ask me why I want to buy an older house or just build my own largely by myself, I want to show them these kind of pictures. gently caress cookie cutter construction. I've seen so many houses go up like this.
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Jul 1, 2014 03:52
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I still kinda want to build a geodesic dome house. Part of it's gotta be that URL. Domehome! It rhymes!  I know they're not as practical as they look because circular rooms are a pain in the rear end to fit furniture into, but I still like the concept and the aesthetic, and the kits seem like a plausible way to be able to build a house largely on your own, since the exterior walls are self-supporting as they go up. One of these days I want to just take a leave of absence from work, buy a plot of land out on the edge of civilization, and build my own house from the ground up.
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Jul 1, 2014 04:10
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:the kits seem like a plausible way to be able to build a house largely on your own, since the exterior walls are self-supporting as they go up. Have you looked into building a traditional stick built house or log cabin on your own? Because it's easier than that, and doesn't result in ridiculous problems relating to all manner of fitting insulation, windows and doors. Yes, I get that these types of structured have their very vocal proponents. But as a home in any climate that requires much of an inside past a frame with sheets of plastic tossed over it they are more a statement than they are an ease of building/economical.
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Jul 1, 2014 04:16
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:I still kinda want to build a geodesic dome house. Part of it's gotta be that URL. Domehome! It rhymes! I've heard some pretty horrible stories about getting drywall and windows to fit in those houses. (Doesn't make me not want a big round house, but enough to make me think really hard about it)
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Jul 1, 2014 04:22
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Motronic posted:Have you looked into building a traditional stick built house or log cabin on your own? Because it's easier than that, and doesn't result in ridiculous problems relating to all manner of fitting insulation, windows and doors. I admit I haven't looked deeply into this kind of thing. The DomeHome kits provide pre-fitted skylights and get around the door issue by adding a riser wall at the bottom of the dome that provides a nice flat surface to mount things like doors to, but that does still leave insulation and drywall and baseboards and everything else that assumes you have a basically rectangular structure. Ehh. I'll have a much clearer picture of things once I start working on building my (non-geodesic) workshop. Just gotta revisit the plans and then submit them and maybe this time they'll actually get accepted!
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Jul 1, 2014 04:27
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:I'll have a much clearer picture of things once I start working on building my (non-geodesic) workshop. Yeah.....you need to do something like this first to a level where you understand the ridiculous compromises in time and expense all of the things you mentioned earlier that they make "easy" (i.e bought at an inflated price because they are niche items) and get an idea of what kind of poo poo show it will be to finish the rest on your own compared to something with straight and square walls. I'm all about trying new building techniques. It's fascinating. But this poo poo isn't new. It's hippie poo poo that never took off and is being trotted out once again to a bunch of people that don't remember why it failed the first time. Geodesic domes have their place. It's just not as a small domestic structure intended to be a home.
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Jul 1, 2014 04:32
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Parallel Paraplegic posted:I live on the east coast of central Florida and we get hurricanes and severe thunderstorms plenty, but the building I'm in now hasn't even flooded in the 30+ years it's been here as far as the apartment manager and I know. Try http://www.securityfirstflorida.com/ I used to work for them, they service the area you are probably in.
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Jul 1, 2014 14:25
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My friend is dismantling a closet... room thingy in a shoebox of a room. It's bigger than a closet and has like a built-in desk or something like that, except with barely enough room to move a chair about in. It was built sometime after the house was built, as evidenced by the different building materials and general what the gently caress. For one thing, the closet walls are heavily insulated. We can't figure out why a closet needs insulation like that. Part of the filling for the wall also was composed of a rope, straight up and down. Not attached to anything, just a rope chillin' in the wall, crammed between layers of insulation. Also, there's an outlet on the inner wall of this thing. Not in it, on it. The wires come out of the original wall, along the outside, and then to a box with an outlet. Maybe they were afraid of snaking wires through the insulation 
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Jul 1, 2014 15:15
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Missing Name posted:We can't figure out why a closet needs insulation like that. Sound. Makes even more sense since there's a desk in there.
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Jul 1, 2014 16:03
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Missing Name posted:My friend is dismantling a closet... room thingy in a shoebox of a room. It's bigger than a closet and has like a built-in desk or something like that, except with barely enough room to move a chair about in. It was built sometime after the house was built, as evidenced by the different building materials and general what the gently caress. Tiny grow room, maybe? Would explain the outlet and the heavy insulation, but not the rope...
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Jul 1, 2014 16:04
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Missing Name posted:My friend is dismantling a closet... room thingy in a shoebox of a room. It's bigger than a closet and has like a built-in desk or something like that, except with barely enough room to move a chair about in. It was built sometime after the house was built, as evidenced by the different building materials and general what the gently caress. Be sure to check for shift on the wall before you remove the studs, you would be surprised what is load bearing.
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Jul 1, 2014 16:27
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:I still kinda want to build a geodesic dome house. Part of it's gotta be that URL. Domehome! It rhymes! I have the same kind of dream, but with a monolithic concrete dome.
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Jul 1, 2014 16:47
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Thanks for the insurance suggestions guys, I'll check out Security First Florida and if that doesn't work go with a local independent agent, really appreciate the help!
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Jul 1, 2014 18:02
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Motronic posted:Sound. Makes even more sense since there's a desk in there. The outlet thing makes sense with that too, outlet boxes can be a major source of sound infiltration. Does the closet have a heavy door gasketed on all four edges?
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Jul 1, 2014 18:31
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Zhentar posted:The outlet thing makes sense with that too, outlet boxes can be a major source of sound infiltration. There is no door. No sign of hinges or locking mechanisms ever having been installed. It's just a frame.
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Jul 1, 2014 20:07
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Missing Name posted:There is no door. No sign of hinges or locking mechanisms ever having been installed. It's just a frame. Sound proof doors are expensive, I bet they took it with them.
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Jul 1, 2014 20:34
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Were the previous owners Asian by any chance? One of my friends going up had a tiny soundproof study room/mental torture chamber in his house like the one you describe. A lot of the 1st gen Asian kids in my school had similar study places in their houses.
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Jul 1, 2014 22:38
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Neo Duckberg posted:Nope, lower. And may I just put out there that he made $1.4 million last year but refuses to get a crane to lift the roof trusses. Just out of curiosity due to an earlier discussion in the thread, how long has his current "company name" been in business? Did he operate under a different name before that? How long of warranties does he offer? Because lol at a "30 year" warranty on that house
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Jul 2, 2014 00:06
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Long Francesco posted:Were the previous owners Asian by any chance? One of my friends going up had a tiny soundproof study room/mental torture chamber in his house like the one you describe. A lot of the 1st gen Asian kids in my school had similar study places in their houses. Yeah, the description seems like an ideal distraction-free working hideout for a writer with noise issues. Or a murderhole. No idea what's up with the rope though, I don't see how that ties into it.
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Jul 2, 2014 00:45
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Splizwarf posted:Or a murderhole. Amateur mistake to not have a floor drain in you murderhole.
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Jul 2, 2014 00:56
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Motronic posted:Amateur mistake to not have a floor drain in you murderhole. Uhm, no you don't want the murder juices to leak DNA all over the public sewer system. Stainless steel checkerplate lined, all welded seams torture chambers are optimal.
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Jul 2, 2014 01:19
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Archives posted:Uhm, no you don't want the murder juices to leak DNA all over the public sewer system. Stainless steel checkerplate lined, all welded seams torture chambers are optimal. Cover everything in plastic wrap so you can just wrap up all the evidence when you're done easy-peasy.
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Jul 2, 2014 01:29
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Parallel Paraplegic posted:Cover everything in plastic wrap so you can just wrap up all the evidence when you're done easy-peasy. Just do it out in the woods where you can leave the body and no one will notice. What the gently caress is wrong with you people?
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Jul 2, 2014 02:30
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Uncle Enzo posted:Just out of curiosity due to an earlier discussion in the thread, how long has his current "company name" been in business? Did he operate under a different name before that? How long of warranties does he offer? Because lol at a "30 year" warranty on that house Since 1992. They have a very good reputation in commercial construction. I should have clarified we are using employees from his company but officially this is a personal project. Mostly he rents them to people who pay in cash who don't have other options, for instance this one is getting "bid" on by someone who has horrible credit. There are no warranties, he does not allow us to repair things unless they are completely broken or inoperable.
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Jul 2, 2014 03:04
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Blue Footed Booby posted:Just do it out in the woods where you can leave the body and no one will notice. What the gently caress is wrong with you people? The woods? Where people picnic and overly romantic couples gently caress? What the hell is wrong with you? We always did it out in the swamp. Body sinks out of sight, gators recycle it into genuine swamp muck. Plus you can catch dinner on the way home! 
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Jul 2, 2014 03:04
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Basement pics Goes to two separate lights, one doesn't work.  This used to be illegally spliced cable. Free tv!!!   Where the building materials are kept. 6 ft high ceiling, I had to duck many pipes.
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Jul 2, 2014 03:24
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